31 May, 2011

How To Ditch Your Fairy


Author: Justine Larbalestier
Genre: Fiction 
Audience: Young Adult 
Format: Book - Library

Synopsis: In New Avalon, people have personal fairies that help with some aspect of their lives. There’s shopping fairies which mean you always find a bargain, loose change fairies, good hair fairies and then there is Charlie’s fairy – a parking fairy. This means whenever Charlie is in the car, the perfect parking spot will appear. Charlie hates her fairy – she doesn’t drive and it makes her a target for people like Dander Anders who always want her to drive places with him. She will do anything to get rid of it, but how do you ditch your fairy?

What I thought: I picked this up because I’d really enjoyed Larbalestier’s other books, Liar and Magic orMadness. I found this a lot harder to get into and if it had been the first of her books I’d read, I’m not sure I would have chased up her other books. It picked up towards the end, but really didn’t grab me at all.

Recommended for: those who like Larbalestier and want to read all of her stuff.

The Sorcerer in the North


Author: John Flanagan
Genre: Fiction
Series: Ranger’s Apprentice  
Audience: Young Adult
 Format: Book - Library

Synopsis: Five years have passed since Will, Halt and Horace helped the Skandian’s defeat the Temujai. Will has finished his training and is on his way to his first Ranger posting at Seacliff. But he is soon sent on a special mission to the North to sort out strange happenings. Is it a sorcerer or is there a more reasonable explanation?

What I thought: My pattern with these books seems to involve me finishing a book and not having a back up in my handbag. So I head to the library and borrow the next in the series. The thing is, I’m always glad when I do! This proved to be yet another excellent book in this series. The storylines are interesting and engaging and I love seeing characters such as Will, Alyss and Horace grow and change. There are another 5 books in the series and I look forward to each of them.

Recommended for: those who want a quality YA fantasy series.

The Glass House



Author: Sonya Hartnett
Genre: Fiction 
Audience: Young Adult
 Format: Book - Library

Synopsis: The Glass House follows six early 20 something’s for a few weeks of their life. Each is struggling to work out what they want and where they fit in.

What I thought: This was Hartnett’s third novel, written when she was just 21. Hartnett’s strength in this book is the clear, concise characters. The six meet regularly at their local pub – The Glass House- but it’s what happens outside that really defines them. Henry and Katrina are experiencing the death throes of their relationship –again, Faine’s crush on Liam is stifling the rest of her life, Simon is looking for love in all the wrong places and Tory sits back and watches it all. Hartnett’s characters draw you into their lives, making you care about the outcomes. Typical of Hartnett, by the end, not all is resolved, but enough is that the reader walks away satisfied and with hope.

Recommended for: those who want to see an author develop over time.
 

30 May, 2011

I'm Back!


We've been home from our holiday for just over a week, but it's taken me that long to get everything sorted again and in a place where I can think about blogging.
Along with my husband, two kids and another family of four, I just spent two weeks camping on an island called Humpy Island.

Our family
For me, one of the best things about camping is the lack of stuff to do. You get up, have breakfast, wash up, tidy up the tent, maybe do some hand washing and that’s it! Your whole housework routine takes no more than 30 – 60 minutes! After that, all there is to do is make a cup of tea and sit down with a book while the kids run wild on the beach!




















And we ate lots of fish and cray fish - yum!

The hunters return successful!


We also walked. This is the view from the top of the island.

For me, one of the best things about being on holidays is being able to read – lots!  However, once the holiday ends, you are left with a stack of books you have read and a need to review them! Given I finished 7 books while on holidays, I thought I would post a bunch of short reviews in one hit. Apart from anything else, I just don't have the time to do full reviews of each book! Five of the seven I read are shortlisted for this years  Children’s Book Council of Australia’s Older Readers Book of the Year. The last one was waiting for me when I got back so I'll get onto that soon. So without further ado, here are the short reviews of the books I read while on holiday!

Title: If I Stay
Author: Gayle Forman
Genre: Fiction

Series: If I Stay
Audience: Young Adult
Format: Book - Library


What I thought: After being the sole survivor of a car crash that killed her parents and younger brother, Mia must make a choice, should she stay on earth or go with them? Told from Mia's point of view, she roams the halls of the hospital listening to her family and friends. I have a bit of a morbid streak and have been known to play scenarios like Mia's out in my head. Her gradual realisation that the choice was hers and her final choice made me feel for Mia and her family. I think it could create some interesting talking points with young adults and what they see as the important things in their lives. I'm looking forward to the sequel, Where She Went.
Challenges: A-Z Challenge, Aussie YA Challenge, For the Love of YA Challenge, 100+ Challenge

Title: Graffiti Moon
Author: Cath Crowley
Genre: Fiction

Audience: Young Adult Format: Book - Library

Short listed for the 2011 Children's Book Council of Australia's Book of the Year - Older Readers.
 
What I thought: It's the last night of year 12 and Lucy has promised her friends to stay out all night to celebrate, but she has an ulterior motive - she wants to find Shadow - the graffiti artist whose work she admires. Ed, who she has a history with, says he knows Shadow and can introduce her and begins a night of hunting. I like Lucy - she knows what she wants and where she is going. The interesting thing about this book was how Crowley maintained suspense even when the reader knew the secret. It becomes about how Lucy will find out who Shadow is and the effect it will have on her and Ed's new found friendship. It well deserved it's inclusion on the shortlist.
Challenges: A-Z Challenge, Aussie YA Challenge, For the Love of YA Challenge, 100+ Challenge





Title: The Midnight Zoo
Author: Sonya Hartnett
Genre: Fiction

Audience: Young Adult Format: Book - Library

Short listed for the 2011 Children's Book Council of Australia's Book of the Year - Older Readers.
 
What I thought: Andrej and Tomas have been doing exactly what theri mother told the to do - run. But now in a deserted town, they have discovered a most unusual zoo and they need to stay until they work out how to save themselves and the animals. I'm a fan of Sonya Hartnett and I did enjoy this book. Not as confronting as The Boy in Striped Pyjamas, The Midnight Zoo still opens the door for discussion around events during WWII. I did feel it lost something towards the end - almost like an uncertainty about how to end the story. Maybe there would be more to gain from a second reading.
Challenges:  Aussie YA Challenge, For the Love of YA Challenge, 100+ Challenge


Title: About A Girl
Author: Joanne Horniman
Genre: Fiction

Audience: Young Adult Format: Book - Library

Short listed for the 2011 Children's Book Council of Australia's Book of the Year - Older Readers.

What I thought: Anna is trying to find out where in the world she fits. Then she meets Flynn and she is sure she fits with her - but Flynn has a secret and it hods the power to destroy all Anna thought she knew. There are some big themes in this book - homosexuality, depression, acceptance and divorce. I love the fact that Anna is gay is not the main focus of her character - in fact she is very comfortable with her sexuality. I loved Anna and wanted to protect her and her new found freedom. This made me wary of Flynn who I thought would hurt Anna. It's also partly set in Canberra, which is my hometown, so although venues weren't specifically mentioned, I think I identified a few - I'd love to know if I'm right!
Challenges: Aussie YA Challenge, For the Love of YA Challenge, 100+ Challenge



Title: The Piper's Son
Author: Melina Marchetta
Genre: Fiction

Audience: Young Adult
Format: Book - Library

Short listed for the 2011 Children's Book Council of Australia's Book of the Year - Older Readers.

What I thought: Life since hight school ended has been tough for Thomas Mackee - his parents have spilt, his uncle was killed in the London bombing and his friends from high school seem to be moving on. Can he , his family and friends rebuild and move forward? Billed as a sequel to Marchetta's Saving Francesca, The Piper's Son could be read as a stand alone. I found it a bit slow to start with but was soon enthralled. I swayed between wanting to slap Thomas and wanting to wrap him in my arms and rock him. Marchetta has this ability to layer who characters so by the end you feel you know them completely. A good read, but I don't think it's this years winner.
Challenges:  Aussie YA Challenge, For the Love of YA Challenge, 100+ Challenge



Title: The Life of a Teenage Body Snatcher
Author: Doug MacLeod

Genre: Fiction
Audience: Young Adult
Format: Book - Library

Short listed for the 2011 Children's Book Council of Australia's Book of the Year - Older Readers.

What I thought: While exhuming his grandfather's body in order to fulfil his wish of being donated to medical science, Thomas Timewell meets a body snatcher called Plenitude and all of a sudden his life is heading in a direction he would never have predicted. This was a very different book and I'm not sure about it's appeal to a YA audience. Some characters such as Thomas' mother were very two dimensional and unconvincing. At times I felt MacLeod was trying to be funny but fell short of the mark. Having said that I did enjoy it, but I won't be seeking out other Doug MacLeod books.
Challenges: Aussie YA Challenge, For the Love of YA Challenge, 100+ Challenge



Title: The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party
Author: Alexander McCall Smith
Genre: Fiction

Series: The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency
Audience: Adult
Format: Kindle

What I thought: The wedding between Grace Makutsi and Phuti Radiphuti is fast approaching and many plans must be made. In the meantime there are still mysteries to be solved and people to help. This is the 12th book in series and I loved it! The series somehow manages to stay fresh and enjoyable despite it's longevity. Reading one of these books is like sitting down to a pot of tea with an old friend you haven't' seen for a long time. Just gorgeous!

Challenges: 100+ Challenge

08 May, 2011

Sing You Home

Title: Sing You Home
Author: Jodi Picoult
Genre: Fiction
Audience: Adult
Format: Book and CD - Library

Synopsis: When Zoe and Max's most recent attempt at IVF fails, Max decides he can't go on and asks for a divorce. Through her work as a music therapist, Zoe meets and falls in love with Vanessa. Together they decide to use the remaining frozen embryo's to have a child. But Max's new found faith means he is not happy to let two women raise his child. Instead, he and Zoe end up in a battle for the right to decide what happens to the embryos.

What I thought: This is the best Picoult book I have read in awhile. For the first time in a long time there was no mother neglecting one child for the love of another. Instead there was an incredibly controversial issue that is sure to spark a wide range or reactions. Although still an easy read, it's the first Picoult in a long time I would consider for a book club - but only if you knew people would respect others opinions! Regardless of whether you agree with same sex marriage, or the right for homosexuals to have children or not, this book will provoke discussion. For the record, I believe in both the right to marriage and children for same sex couples. As far as I am concerned, love is love and a loving house is the most important thing in a child's life.

As with the last book I read , The Taste of Apple, Sing Me Home has a CD that goes with it. In fact, I'm listening to it as I write this review. As interesting as the idea is, I didn't find it as important to the story as the one it The Taste of Apple. A nice touch, but if you lost it, you wouldn't change the feel or meaning of the book.
As with all Picoult books there was a twist at the end. Not the one I was expecting, but one I liked. My only issue with the book was the last chapter that I just didn't see as necessary. In particular, where Max ended up. Just too twee for me.

Recommended for: those who like Picoult and would like to see her move back to her best.

 

05 May, 2011

Library Loot

Library Loot is co-hosted by Claire at The Captive Reader and Marg at The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader.  This week it's hosted by Marg at The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader.   So pop over and see who else is participating.

Not much loot this week - getting ready to head off on a two week camping holiday where I plan to use my kindle for most of my reading. No non-books - no electronic devices when we camp!



Low GI Diet. 12 Week Weight Loss Plan - Jennie Brand-Miller – I need to lose weight. This looks interesting and may be worth giving ago. Unfortunately in the end, the only way I will lose it though is if I move...

















Glass House – Sonya Hartnett – continuing to work my way through Hartnett’s book. This was her 3rd book published.








So not alot of loot this week and no loot at all for the next two weeks. Instead I'll be here!

Library loot since I last posted: 3                          Year to date -Fiction - 36
                                                                                                     Non Fiction - 15
                                                                                                     Non Book - 24
                                                                                                     Total - 65



The Taste of Apple

Title: The Taste of Apple
Author: James Laidler
Genre: Verse
Audience: Young Adult
Format: Book and CD - Library

Synopsis: Pedro Jones doesn’t know what the future holds. His dad has left and he and his mum are forced to move into commission housing. There he meets Johnny Lazzaro, an East Timorese refugee who gets Pedro involved in the free East Timor movement and teaches him about the important things in life.

What I thought: This was an amazing, incredible, thought provoking book. Written entirely in verse, it challenges the reader to really think and absorb what is going on. The verse format gives a quick flow to the book, requiring the author to leave out any non essential information. I found the lack of description refreshing, allowing me to picture the scene in my head without any preconceptions of what the author saw. But best of all for me, I could easily follow the story, something I have previously had problems with when reading books in verse. Accompanying the book was a CD which had some of the verses spoken as well as some musical tracks relevant to the book. Throughout the book, CD icons appeared letting you know which track  you should listen to at that time. While listening to the CD would not  be essential, I found it really added to the feel of the book. A Taste of Apples would be a great book for a high school class (think year 9/10. In Australia, those kids would be 15/16 years old), especially with reluctant readers as the verse makes it a lot less confrontational. It also would provide great discussion points on Australia’s involvement in East Timor and their fight for independence.

Recommended for: those who like YA that is not traditional.
 

04 May, 2011

Magic or Madness

Title: Magic or Madnes
Author: Justine Larbalestier
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Magic or Madness
Audience: Young Adult
Format: Book - Library

Synopsis: Reason Cansino's mother Sarafina, has spent her whole life trying to keep Reason away from her grandmother. Esmeralda. According to Sarafina, Esmeralda is an evil woman who believes in magic and practises terrifying rituals. Then Sarafina ends up in a psychiatric hospital and Reason is delivered into her grandmother's care in Sydney. Her thoughts are focussed on escape, until she opens the back door and finds her self in the middle of a New York winter. If magic is real, what else has Sarafina lied about?

What I thought: Justine Larbalestier may very well be my new favourite Australian young adult author. I grabbed this after reading Liar and loving it. This was brilliant! Like Rowling, Larbalestier has taken magic and placed it in the ordinary world. Reason's paranoia at finding herself in the house of the woman her mother has frequently described as evil and terrifying is palpable. You yourself as the reader are unsure whether or not to trust Esmeralda. I really felt for Reason as she faced the collapse of her world and everything she thought she knew and coped with being in New York! I look forward to reading more of this series and finding out what happens next.

Recommended for: those who are like good quality YA fantasy.


01 May, 2011

Layla's Story

Title: Layla's Story
Author: Vanessa Gorman
Genre: Memoir
Audience: Adult
Format: Book - Library

Synopsis: Vanessa Gorman writes the story of her baby Layla. She goes back to the beginning, starting with meeting Layla's father, their complex relationship, her pregnancy, the traumatic loss of Layla not long after she was born and all that came after that loss.

What I thought: OK, this is going to be a really hard review to write. I am very mindful that who I am writing about are real people and so are the  events that happened. While I in no way think my blog is widely read, I have been contacted by authors of books I've review before. Vanessa Gorman also made a documentary about Layla. It started before Layla was born and I remember watching it. I wasn't pregnant at the time, but we were about to start trying for our first. I remember sobbing and being amazed that these people were able to share such a private experience. It's one of the reasons I picked up the book when I saw it at work. I found the book's exploration of the dilemma of being in a relationship where you both want different things, the sharing of raw grief at Layla's death and Gorman's embracing of the experience excellent. Enjoyed is not the right words, but thought provoking. In these areas of the book, I feel Gorman made a small window into a world I am grateful to never had experienced, and allowed me to develop a small understanding of what it's like to live in that world. For all of these reasons, I kept reading. Early on in the book, at the beginning of her and Michael's relationship, Gorman goes into explicit details about their sex life. Now I enjoy the odd titillating read, but I found this uncomfortable and out of place. It was information I didn't need to know and am not sure why you would want to share it with the world. Obviously the sex was good and an important part of their relationship, but I just don't think I need to know the details. I also found Michael's continued need to know there was a way out of the relationship, his need to be able to leave and Vanessa's willingness to put up with this despite the fact was it completely opposite to what she wanted hard to deal with. Vanessa wanted a child. Ached for a child. I get that, I've experienced that. I have also had the partner who was reluctant and if truth be told, would be childless except for me. I understand what it is like to look at a person who you feel is truly your soulmate and think if you can't give me this, I need to leave. I know what it's like to say those words and be terrified of the answer. I'm also lucky enough to know a man who loved me enough to say yes, he would give me a baby.  A man who loved me enough to put aside his reservations to make me happy. To make a huge sacrifice in order to stay with me. And there in lies my biggest problem with Michael. For me, if you truly love someone, you do what is best for them. What was best for Vanessa, was to have a baby. It was a physical ache. Someone who truly loved her would have said yes, or walked away permanently. And while I understand that Vanessa loved Michael, had a strong physical and spiritual connection to him, it was obvious he was never going to give in willingly and even if he did, it was highly likely he wouldn't hang around after.
In the end, Vanessa found someone else. They have two children and a continuing love for Layla.

Recommended for: those who wanted a raw, no hold barred look on loving and losing a child.

Challenges:  100+ Challenge

Jarvis 24

Title: Jarvis 24
Author: David Metzenthen
Genre: Fiction
Audience: Young Adult
Format: Book

Synopsis: Marc E Jarvis seems like a typical teenager. He's doing work experience in a car yard, training for footy, hanging out with his best mate and falling in love. But things are never as easy as they look and after the dust settles, nothing will ever be the same again.

What I thought: This is the fourth book I have read that was shortlisted for the 2010 Children's Book Council book of the Year Awards - Young Adult that I have read. The other three I have read are Liar, Stolen and Loving Richard Feynman. I still have another two to go - waiting for them to come into the library. Jarivs 24 won the Book of Year prize. Going on what I have read so far, I don't agree. I feel both Liar and Stolen were stronger books. Maybe it's that in the end, they were more "exciting", but I feel it's more than that. I had more to say and more to think about with the other two. This was a good read, but nothing that set the world on fire. If I was an English teacher looking to set a text for my kids to get their teeth into, this would not be it. The two books I haven't read, A Small Free Kiss in the Dark and The Winds of Heaven, were the two honour books. It will be interesting to read them in light of this review.

Recommended for: those who are interested in...I don't know!

Challenges: A-Z Challenge,  100+ Challenge, For the love of YA Challenge, Aussie YA Challenge